Bankroll
– The amount of chips that you have. This is a relative
term, and can represent your bankroll for a particular game,
for the day, or for any defined time period.

Big
Blind - In Texas Hold em tournaments (like the World
Series of Poker or the World Poker Tour), the Big Blind is the
larger of two forced bets that kick off the first round of betting
in each hand. The Large Blind is required from the player sitting
two spots to the left of the dealer, or dealer button. The blinds
are set and usually increase over time during a tournament.
The Large Blind is typically twice the size of the Small Blind.

Big
Slick - In Texas Hold em, having an ace and a king
as your hole cards is called Big Slick. It's a very strong starting
hand.

Bottom
Pair – In Texas Hold’em, a pair that uses
the lowest card on the flop. This is obviously not as good as
a pair with the other two flop cards.

Bullets
- Pair of aces as your hole cards in Texas Hold em. This is
a very strong hand to start from.

Button
– The position on the table that represents
the dealer. In casinos, as there is a house dealer,
the button is indicated by a white disk that rotates
one to the left after each hand. In Texas Hold’em,
the player on the button is the last to bet in all
betting rounds except the first (due to the small
and big blinds betting first to the left of the
button).

Buy-in
– The amount of money you must cash into chips to join
a game.

Check-raise
– To check the first time the bet comes to
you, and then raise the next time it comes to you,
all within a single betting round. This tactic is
often used to lure other players into committing
more funds to a pot.

Connectors
– Any two cards in succession (i.e. a ten and a jack).
A related term called “Suited connectors” refers
to any two cards in succession that are also the same suit.

Dominated
Hand – In Texas Hold’em, this is a hand
that looks good on the face to an uneducated player, but is
known to typically lose to another hand that has a high likelihood
of being played (i.e. a King and a 4 will often lose to another
King with a higher kicker, or a stronger hand altogether).

Double
Up - Going all in on a hand during
a no-limit game and winning, which essentially doubles
your bankroll. Even with a short stack, a player
who doubles up 2 or 3 times in a row can get right
back into contention in most poker tournaments.

Drawing
Dead – A player that is in a
pot hoping to make their hand with a draw, but doesn’t
realize that he/she can’t win even with the
draw.

Early
Position – Relative to the button, an early position
on the table is the first few places immediately to the left.
Players in an “Early position” are at a disadvantage
because they have to bet before the rest of the table on each
betting round.

Flop
– In Texas Hold’em, the flop is the
first three community cards flopped over, which
all come as the same time between the first and
second betting round.

Free
Roll - A Free Roll poker tournament is one where entry
is free, or comp’d by the house.

High
Roller - A gambler who plays for large
stakes. Being a High Roller is often times relative.
Extreme High Rollers are also referred to as "Whales".

Hit
– Drawing a card or cards that help your hand. In Texas
Hold’em, you are looking to get “Hit” by the
flop so your hand improves. If you don’t get hit, it may
be time to get out.

Hole
Card(s) – In Texas Hold’em, the two cards
that each player gets dealt are called the “Hole cards”.
In Blackjack, the hole card is the face down card of the dealer.

Late
Position – Relative to the button, a late position
on the table is the first few places immediately to the right.
Players in a “Late position” are at an advantage
because they get to bet after seeing how the rest of the table
bets on each betting round.

Limp
In– To call a bet before the
flop with the intent of either seeing the flop cheaply,
or hoping to check-raise a player that bets farther
around the table.

No
Limit – A poker game where a player may bet all
of the chips he/she has on the table on any given turn. The
Texas Hold’em version of this is the game seen on the
World Poker Tour and at the World Series of Poker.

Kicker- The highest card in a poker (Texas Hold'em
or any poker game) hand that isn't being used to
create create a pair, three, or four of a kind.
Often times, the kicker serves as a tie-breaker
with equally ranked poker hands. For example, a
pair of jacks with an ace kicker beats a pair of
jacks with a king kicker.

Monster
- Not the for sure winner, which is called "The
Nuts", but a huge hand that has a really good
chance of winning.

Muck
- The Muck is the discard pile. Additionally, you Muck
your cards when you throw them in, or fold.

Nuts
- In Texas Hold em, you've got The Nuts if you've got a hand
that can't be beat no matter what community cards come up next.
The nuts is also often used to refer to the best possible straight
and/or flush hand (i.e. the “Nuts Flush” is the
best possible flush, but may be beaten by a full-house)

Outs–All the cards that can come on the
draw to make a player’s existing hand a winning
hand (i.e if 5 cards can make your hand, then you
have 5 “Outs”).

Over
the top – When you re-raise another player’s
raise, you are said to be “Going over the top of him”.
In no limit games, if you throw all of your bankroll in after
another player raises, you are going “All-in over the
top”.

Pot
Odds – The amount of money in
the pot compared to what you must put in to continue
playing. If there’s $100 already in a pot,
and you have to call a $5 bet to stay in the pot,
then you’re getting 20:1 pot odds.

Quads
- Four of a kind. The 3rd strongest hand in poker. It can only
be beaten by a straight flush and a royal flush.

River
- In Texas Hold em, the fifth and final community card
flipped over in the center of the table is called The River.
As many "gamblers", often times foolish players, love
the thrill of drawing into a hand on the last card, the popular
wisdom is, "Live by the River, die by the River."
Also referred to as “Fifth Street”.

Short
Stack - The player with the fewest
chips at the table is considered to be sitting on
the short stack. In no-limit Texas Hold em games
like the World Series of Poker, the short stack
player is at a considerable disadvantage as he/she
often has to go all in with every good hand to avoid
getting his/her bankroll slowly eaten by the blinds.

Small
Blind - In Texas Hold em tournaments (like the World
Series of Poker or the World Poker Tour), the Small Blind is
the smaller of two forced bets that kick off the first round
of betting in each hand. The Small Blind is required from the
player sitting immediately to the left of the dealer, or dealer
button. The blinds are set and usually increase over time during
a tournament.

Structured
Betting – A poker game where there are fixed
amounts for bets and raises. In Texas Hold’em, it’s
common to hear games referred to by the structured betting amounts
of the first two and last two betting rounds (i.e. a 2-4 game,
or a 4-8 game). The vast majority of casino poker games have
structure betting.

Table
Stakes – A popular rule that states you can’t
add money to the bankroll you have on the table during a hand.
As a corollary, you can’t be forced to fold by someone
with a larger bankroll than you, and instead a side pot is created
for bets exceeding your contribution. This is a universal rule
in casino poker.

Top
Pair- In Texas Hold’em, a pair
that uses the highest card on the flop.

Turn– In Texas Hold’em, the fourth
community card flipped over. Also referred to as
“Fourth Street”.